How to set up a digital signage network (parts 6, 7 & 8)

There are many types of layouts when deploying a digital signage advertising screen. You have the traditional three-zone layout, where you have a ticker at the bottom, scrolling news updates. The weather report, either on the left or right of the screen within its own zone, and finally the ad in the larger ad-zone. There is also the split screen layout, where you can divide the screen into two equal zones, rotating the host’s products or services in one zone, and your advertiser’s ads in the other zone. You can also utilize the entire screen and rotate the weather and news updates every couple of ads. As well as include the host’s products and services within the loop. How many spots you assign is entirely up to you. Make sure your network is profitable, and that you calculate the number of ad spots with regards to your loop time. Avoid clutter, as adding too many messages and images onto your screens simultaneously will prompt viewers to overlook or miss your advertisers messages altogether.  Here are a few tips for designing content.

Make sure you keep your target audience’s age into perspective. If you are advertising in a club, your advertising will be geared to younger people who frequent clubs. Whereas if your screens are located in a golf course in Boca Raton, your general audience will be older retired viewers, and as such your content should be relevant to that demographic.

Location, example, where you place your screen within an establishment is also key.

Remember your designing principles, colors and types of fonts used, as your goal is to make it easy for people to read.

Always be mindful of spelling errors.

Finally understand the key elements, and that your digital signage network will be as effective as your content.

When choosing your host locations, be diverse by selecting different industries when creating your network. You can choose different industries such as spas & salons, hotels, convenient stores, gyms, coffee shops, clinics, restaurants and other such high-traffic locations where people dwell. Or select more niche locations, for example only hair salons, spas and other such businesses in the beauty industry. Or you can select just hotels and motels. Or a collection of convenient stores. This way you can aim for more targeted advertisers. You can also provide a call-to-action prompt as an intensive for up-selling advertisers to spend more on their ad spot with you. Should finding multiple locations become difficult, you can start your network with only one location to utilize as a host. To do this, you must make sure your one location is a strategic one. For example a University, where you can find restaurants and coffee shops, book stores, convenient stores, laundry mats and other types of businesses that cater to students, and charge them up to $1500 per year for each ad spot. Getting just 20 advertisers will yield you a revenue of $30,000 per year. Not bad for a starter network.  Other such one location hits are airports, clinics, malls, and train stations. Franchises are also great as it allows you to pick up multiple locations while dealing with one person. Subway stations are just as profitable if you can secure all of them in a city by contacting whoever is responsible of making a decisions. Digital signage advertising is quickly replacing static signs. Understanding the dynamics and how this industry works is key in your success, along with finding the right locations. Be sure to like our videos and don’t forget to subscribe to learn more on how this industry works and monetize.

When deploying digital signage advertising screens, make sure you use strategic incentives for your hosts wisely and effectively. Like adding QR Codes that redirects viewers to your host websites or provide more information about their products and services. These tools can also be used as an incentive for the advertisers so as to purchase ad spots from you. QR codes can also be used by advertisers to display digital coupons, specials, social media pages, or redirect to their websites. Other incentives are cross advertising between host locations, digital services that you offer such as video S.E.O., and other such services that you can include at discounted rates. By keeping your advertisers happy, you can count on yearly renewals which is a great source of recurring income requiring minimal work. Digital signage solutions have extremely high-profit margins relative to its investment if done correctly. You can start an ad screen ready for advertising with a TV costing $300, a $100 media player including software, another $300 for a bracket and pay a TV installer, totalling seven hundred dollars. Let’s say it even costs you $900 to deploy an ad-screen and you decide to go cheap charging $300 yearly, just 3 ads would give you your entire investment back.  You can probably find 3 investors that have businesses and ask them to front you $300 each to start your first screen in exchange for an ad spot. If you have any questions or would like us to make a video on a specific inquiry you may have on digital signage advertising, interactive touch screen kiosks, or digital menu boards, please email it to us at info@imotionmedia.com. You can also leave it in our video inquiry form located on our website at imotionmedia.com within the FAQ section. Don’t forget to like and subscribe to our YouTube channel for our “How to set up a Digital Signage Advertising Network” video series.